Today, on October 4, local self-government elections are being held in Georgia. The voting process began at 08:00 and will conclude at 20:00.

Across the country, a total of 3,061 polling stations are in operation. Of these, voting will be conducted electronically at 2,284 stations and by traditional methods at 777 stations. Additionally, ten polling stations have been established in exceptional circumstances and are open within penitentiary institutions.

The total number of voters for the municipal elections is 3,513,818. A total of 3,130,348 voters will have the opportunity to participate in the elections using electronic technologies. Up to 47,000 young people will have the opportunity to participate in the polls for the first time. A total of 60,754 voters have applied to the electoral administration with requests for mobile ballot boxes.

Twelve political parties are registered for the October 4 elections, their order on the ballot paper being as follows:

• “Homeland, Language, Faith” – 1;
• “Conservatives for Georgia” – 3;
• “Our United Georgia” – 5;
• “Free Georgia” – 7;
• “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia” – 8;
• “Strong Georgia-Lelo” – 9;
• “Georgia” – 11;
• “Greens Party” – 12;
• “People’s State” – 14;
• “Gakharia for Georgia” 25;
• “Girchi” – 36;
• “Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia” – 41.

Furthermore, nine mayoral candidates are registered in Tbilisi. All 12 political associations have submitted party lists for the Tbilisi Sakrebulo (City Assembly) elections. Apart from Tbilisi, 112 mayoral candidates are registered across the remaining 63 municipalities, including four candidates nominated by initiative groups.

As for candidates registered in local single-mandate electoral districts, a total of 2,228 candidates are registered, including 32 candidates nominated by initiative groups. In Tbilisi, there are 160 candidates.

The electoral process will be observed by representatives from 28 international and 27 local organisations, while the progress of the elections will be reported by nearly a thousand journalists from 73 media outlets.